cross-cultural insights for the globally-minded

The Fortune magazine recently published an interesting article about Birkman Method®.  The article, “Are you a good fit for your job?” (a good question that we should all be asking all the time…) summarized an experience that the writer had of taking the Birkman.  Not surprisingly, what she shares is quite similar to what my clients say when they take the Birkman – amazingly accurate and insightful.  You can click here to read the Fortune article.

Ms. Reingold, the aforementioned writer, says, “The Birkman Method’s results weren’t shocking, but they got me thinking about my interactions.”  I’d say that it’s great since many people spend all that money taking all these personality assessment tests, and they don’t do much with it afterward.  She is thinking about how she functions in her job, and that’s a very good starting point after taking the Birkman.

She concludes that it’s very helpful in learning what she needs to succeed.  While I totally agree with her, my experience so far has been that most people don’t have necessary discipline and processing insights to use this amazing information they get from the Birkman®.  It’s a lot of information, and it’s a time-consuming process for them to think through the insights they gained from Birkman® and come up with a reasonable, realistic action steps that translate into a long term growth and success.

There’s a reason that there are consultants, trainers, and coaches who make a good living interpreting the information and designing application processes for people who take the Birkman®.  For whatever assessment you take, you need a process that can help you let the results sink in, be absorbed into your system, and come up with a doable plan.  Birkman results happen to be better than others, but that’s why you all the more need a good action plan to make use of the good insights you get!

By the way, Ms. Reingold ends her article asking, “If only there were a Birkman Jr. for my kids.”  Well, there is not, but we can generally help kids 15 years and older.   I just hope I knew about Birkman when I were 15.  Then I wouldn’t have majored in what I majored in and suffered the consequences of it… But that’s another whole post in this blog…

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